# If it's not a penis, what is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318 "2003-07-14T05:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/1 "2003-07-14T05:26:07Z")
[clickyclick](http://www.snopes.com/photos/whale.asp) > [@](#): > > The whale shark (like all sharks) lacks a penis, so the circled item in the photo above is not that, no matter what it looks like. Ok, it is alarmingly phallic, but apparently it’s not a penis, so what the hell **is** it? ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/2 "2003-07-14T05:31:47Z")
From the linked page: > [@](#): > > As to what the item hanging down is, the best guess from folks who study sharks has it that part of a female shark’s intestines extruded through her cloaca, probably because of the ropes cutting into her. What’s wrong with that explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/3 "2003-07-14T05:32:47Z")
What’s wrong with: > [@](#): > > As to what the item hanging down is, the best guess from folks who study sharks has it that part of a female shark’s intestines extruded through her cloaca, probably because of the ropes cutting into her. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/4 "2003-07-14T05:33:43Z")
::smack:: I have a tendancy to completely overloock whole paragraphs of something. So sorry, mods come by and close this thread. ---
**Author:** ![ubermensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bcef8e/32.png) [@ubermensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ubermensch)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/5 "2003-07-14T05:40:59Z")
i really wish snopes would finalize their pages before putting them up. when i first read it, snopes said that that thing was one of the two claspers of a male whale. i’ve noticed that snopes have changed a few of their explanations after they’ve been posted. maybe they should log what they’ve changed and when for each debunking ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/6 "2003-07-14T12:39:03Z")
Wow, that’s revolting. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-its-not-a-penis-what-is-it/188318/7 "2003-07-14T13:17:14Z")
Two things wrong, one of which has been pointed out: 1. That’s not a whale, it’s a shark. Sharks don’t have penises. 2. The thing, whatever it is, is way too small to be the penis of a blue whale. A blue whale’s penis is approximately [ten feet long](http://www.sexualrecords.com/WSRfaun.html). So this urban legend is _under_stating the truth… You don’t see that every day.